A shadow in the night: The hunt for serial rapist Joseph Thompson

Twenty-five years ago Joseph Thompson was jailed for 30 years for the rapes and sexual violation of nearly 50 women and young girls. His real number of victims is believed to be closer to 70 and the harm they and their families suffered was immeasurable.

During his reign of terror, residents lived in fear - parents wouldn't let their children walk to school, extra locks were added to doors and windows, some took to keeping baseball bats at arms reach and vigilante groups were formed.

When Thompson was sentenced he was given a minimum non-parole period of 25-years and told by Justice Fisher it would be a very long time before he got out, if he did at all.

"You may either die in prison or be so old and weak when released that you can harm no one."

That minimum non-parole period is now up.

This week, as the Parole Board declined his release, senior journalist Elizabeth Binning revisits the hunt for the 'South Auckland Rapist' - a shadow in the night who managed to elude police for 12 long years before a DNA sample led to his arrest.